<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>The End of a Noble Steed by lwise2019</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23965261">The End of a Noble Steed</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/lwise2019/pseuds/lwise2019'>lwise2019</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Mikkel's Story [43]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Stand Still Stay Silent</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Gen</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-05-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 16:28:21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,411</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23965261</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/lwise2019/pseuds/lwise2019</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>The tank fails at last.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Mikkel's Story [43]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1536739</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>The End of a Noble Steed</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The following day started out well, but by mid-afternoon the tank broke down again.  Tuuri, Emil, and Mikkel, all jumped out and ran to the front as had become their habit: Tuuri to fix the problem, Mikkel to provide heavy lifting if necessary, and Emil to guard them while they were distracted.  Tuuri had become quite adept at quick repairs.</p><p>This time, however, as soon as Mikkel raised the hood, the engine burst into flames.  All three jumped back in shock.  Mikkel recovered first, ran for the door, yanked out a bucket, half filled it from the tank's external tap, and ran forward to pour water onto the flames.  Choking smoke poured out.  As the three stood back, watching in dismay, Sigrun and Lalli rushed out as well.</p><p>“I – I don't think I can fix it anymore,” Tuuri told her captain despairingly.  Looking at the mess of melted insulation and severed wires, Mikkel had no doubt of that.</p><p>“Time for walking now?” Sigrun asked Mikkel.</p><p>“Yes.”  Pulling out a list he'd made in the evenings over the past days, he went on, “We have two weeks left until the arrival of the boat, but I have prepared the plans for this event, and you can all be at ease.  We were fortunate as we're not too far away from our extraction location.  A lightly equipped person in good condition could cross the distance in two days, with ease.”  Looking around at the others, he added, “Which means <em>we</em> should be able to do it in a week.”  And that was <em>very</em> fortunate, he did not say, because they had, at best, a week's worth of food left, and that would be at short rations if Lalli was not able to bring them some game.</p><p>Behind him, Emil muttered to Tuuri, “Don't look at me.  I didn't even breathe in that direction.”</p><p>“What do we do with the <em>books?</em>” Sigrun asked somewhat plaintively, clearly fearing the entire expedition was a loss.</p><p>“All taken into consideration.  We will not be leaving empty-handed.”  Turning to the others, “First, Emil, we need you to take your friend with you and go on a shopping trip to that commercial patch we just drove past.  Hopefully you two can salvage a couple of useful items for us.  Here's your list.  More important ones are at the top.  Return before nightfall.”</p><p>“Sure,” Emil replied, glancing uncertainly between Mikkel and Sigrun.  As Sigrun said nothing, he shrugged, accepting Mikkel's authority, and began to study the list.</p><p>“If you feel well,” Mikkel went on, turning to Tuuri, “you can help me prepare the books and meals for transportation.”</p><p>“I – I will.  I feel great!”</p><p>“And <em>you</em>,” he added to Sigrun, “should go back to 'guard duty'.  We need you to be in as solid a shape as possible when we depart.”</p><p>“Not gonna lie, I'm probably just going back to sleep.  I'm feeling sick like a dog.”</p><p>“Yes, that is what I was alluding to.”  Sweeping his gaze over the assembled team, he finished, “The day is still young.  With proper organization we will be ready to embark on our trek tomorrow morning.”</p><p>He started toward the tank; he needed to make arrangements for Reynir, who, come to think of it, probably had no idea what was happening.  But first … </p><p>“Why are you still here?” he asked Emil in some annoyance.</p><p>“I don't understand half these words,” the Swede replied, and Mikkel was forced to describe each item – wheelbarrow, plastic jugs, sleeping bags, tent, etc. – so that the other could identify them in his own language.  Properly informed, Emil gestured “come along” to Lalli, and the two set forth together.</p><p>Back inside the tank, he stripped Tuuri's bunk, leaving the bedclothes bundled together on the floor and tying the rolled-up mattress for easy transport.  Tuuri in the radio compartment gave up fiddling with the equipment, telling Sigrun, “The radio is out.”</p><p>Of course it is, he thought, it's shorted out again and this time the wires are surely melted.</p><p>“Bummer,” Sigrun answered briefly.</p><p>“But … we won't be able to let the base know that we're still on our way.”</p><p>“Doesn't matter, the ship will be there for us.  Losing contact with a team in the field happens all the time.  You still send out whatever help you've promised, that's how it's always done.”</p><p>“So you don't think they'll be really worried?” Tuuri asked in relief.</p><p>“Oh, no.  They'll think we're dead.”  And that was the end of that conversation.</p><p>Now it was Reynir's turn.  Mikkel found him sitting anxiously on the floor of the compartment, mask on and the back door open.  As soon as Mikkel came in view, the Icelander hastily explained, “The compartment was filling up with smoke and the sun is shining so I thought it would be okay …”</p><p>“It's fine, it's fine.  That smoke would not have been good for you, certainly.  That was the result of the engine catching fire.  As the tank is irreparable, it will be necessary for us to walk from here.”</p><p>The other looked around uncertainly, making a vague gesture at the books.</p><p>“Yes, the books.  I have many things to do, so I want Tuuri to go through them to pick out the most valuable.”  He was stripping Reynir's mattress as he spoke, and once more handing the bundle of bedding to the younger man.  “That means she needs to be back here tonight, and therefore that you need to be in the front compartment.  We don't need her up there to drive anymore …”  That was a rather sad thought, but he continued without hesitating.  “I need to let the tank air out for about an hour before I will feel safe moving you in there, so you will wait outside with me for that time.”</p><p>Rolled-up mattress in his arms, Mikkel led the way to a camp stool that he had set up beside his intended fire site.  Once Reynir was seated, he piled the mattress on top of the bundle of bedding, the other naturally taking hold of it but asking plaintively in a muffled tone from behind the mattress, “I have to sit like this for an <em>hour??</em>”</p><p>“Just for a few minutes.  Be patient.  I'll be right back.”  Two trips from the front compartment to the back moved Tuuri's mattress and bedding to her new quarters; she would only be there one night, but there was no reason for her to suffer any discomfort.  With a last mournful look around the radio compartment, she followed him on his second trip and stood surveying the book collection with a critical eye as he left.</p><p>With that done, two more trips into the tank sufficed to move Reynir's mattress and bedding, though the man himself had to stay outside for the time being.  Mikkel placed the kitten in his lap to provide an alarm, but still stayed close while gathering firewood and lighting a campfire.</p><p>When the scavengers returned with all he had requested, including plastic jugs, Mikkel's first priority was to prepare all of the remaining food so that he could simply reheat soup for each meal rather than engage in the time-consuming task of peeling and chopping vegetables.  And candles, of course.  Reynir joined in the effort, glad to be of assistance, and in fact he stayed out of the tank for hours without complaint.</p><p>Sigrun and Emil joined Mikkel beside the campfire for supper, while Reynir took his share inside, announcing his intention to draw runes on the tents; Mikkel took Tuuri's share to her compartment so that she need not interrupt her work in sorting books; and Lalli, as usual, took his share and sat far off – but not out of sight – on a fallen tree.</p><p>As Emil helped Mikkel pour fresh soup into plastic jugs, Sigrun observed drily, “You managed to make it look even more disgusting.”</p><p>Looking at the soup through age-clouded plastic, Mikkel rather agreed, though it wouldn't do to say so.  “It will sustain us all the same.”  He had decided very early on that he would not argue the merits of the soup, as it had none but for nutritional value.</p><p>“Hey, I'm just making observations.”  Mikkel shrugged, and the three of them settled down to their supper.</p><p>Mikkel was glad later, in the way that one can be both glad and miserable at the same time, that he had built his campfire at the front of the tank.</p>
  </div></div>
</body>
</html>